Nishika
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "she who removes poverty".
Name Census estimates that about 188 living Americans carry the first name Nishika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nishika today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nishika births was 2013 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nishika. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Nishika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
188
~ 1 in 1,823,161 Americans
Peak year
2013
18 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,750
Tracked since 1986
Census
Nishika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 251 people with the first name Nishika, which placed it at #33,109 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#33,109
National first-name rank
People counted
251
251 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nishika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nishika is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.7%) and White (3.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Nishika described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Nishika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander79.7% · 200
- Black or African American12.7% · 32
- White3.2% · 8
- Two or more races2.0% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 2
Popularity
Nishika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nishika from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 98 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nishika by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Nishika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nishikas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nishika
The name Nishika is believed to have its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that was the root of many modern Indian languages. The name can be traced back to the ancient Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE in the Indian subcontinent.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Nishika can be found in the Rigveda, a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns that form the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "nishka," which means "gold coin" or "ornament," suggesting that the name may have been associated with wealth, beauty, or adornment in its original context.
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Puranas and the Mahabharata, there are references to various characters and figures with the name Nishika. One notable example is Nishika, the daughter of the sage Valmiki, who is mentioned in the Ramayana, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nishika. One of the earliest recorded examples is Nishika, a 6th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer who is credited with contributions to the field of trigonometry.
Another prominent figure with the name Nishika was Nishika Kara, a 9th-century Indian sculptor and architect who is renowned for his work on the famous Sun Temple in Modhera, Gujarat, India.
In the realm of literature, Nishika Karki was a 14th-century Nepali poet and writer who is celebrated for her contributions to the Newari language and literature. Her works were influential in preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the Newari people.
Nishika Lulla, born in 1990, is a contemporary Indian actress and model who has appeared in various Bollywood films and television shows. She is known for her roles in popular productions such as "Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai" and "Bittoo Boss."
Lastly, Nishika Kumble, born in 1992, is an Indian former cricketer who played as a right-arm medium-pace bowler for the Indian women's national cricket team. She represented India in various international tournaments and was part of the team that won the Asia Cup in 2008.
People
Nishika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nishika as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nishika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nishika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nishika going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,823,161 US residents.
Is Nishika a common name?
We classify Nishika as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 191 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nishika most popular?
The single biggest year for Nishika was 2013, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nishika is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nishika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 251 people with the name Nishika, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,109 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Nishika in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Nishika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nishika leans strongly female. 249 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Nishika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nishika is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.7%) and White (3.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Nishika most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nishika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (200 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Nishika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nishika a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nishika in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Nishika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nishika in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Nishika can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Nishika?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Nishika on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.